Spam calls and text messages are a frustration shared by millions of people, and one local man says the problem has gotten out of hand.
Recently, I heard from Mark Shubert about the unwanted calls he was getting every day.
WATCH BELOW: How you can reduce those annoying spam calls, texts
"Really very infuriating; that's why I contacted you because I didn't know where to turn," Shubert said.
He said he's been getting over 30 calls a day for the last couple of months.
The calls come from different area codes, and usually with the same type of computer-generated voice, making a pitch to sign up for Medicare-related programs.
"You're supposed to think it's somebody live you’re talking to, and it's not," he says.
Making the calls stop is not easy, but there are things we can do.
"I was starting to just receive an alarming number of calls," says Kim Key, senior security writer at PC Mag.
Key recently wrote an article about the ways she found to put a stop to the calls, and it usually starts in the settings of your phone.
"If you find something that says silence unknown callers, you're on the right track," Key said. "There are also other settings that can block unknown numbers from sending you texts."
Several carriers also offer call screening and scanning to filter calls.
Key said the best option to act so telemarketers and scammers don't have access to your number.
"Get right in there and get your information, as much of it as you can, off of the public web," she said. "And that means going to a data broker website like Whitepages.com, like Spokeo, and requesting to have your information removed. It is free. It takes 5 minutes. That is what cut my spam calls in half when I did that."
